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Nobody should go shopping on Thanksgiving

Yes, you’ll have the opportunity to shop: At least 15 major retail chains will be open on Thanksgiving, including Walmart, Macy’s, and Best Buy (according to ThinkProgress).

How fantastic would it be if no one showed up?

We already have people stuck working to man the airports and restaurants. We shouldn’t be asking even more people to work, particularly when shopping (thankfully!) isn’t even part of our Thanksgiving tradition, unlike traveling to be with family or enjoying a meal together.

I worked at Borders for a couple of summers and a Christmas during college. That’s not very much retail experience: Many of my colleagues in journalism had worked several years already in retail. But it was enough to give me a taste of what a nightmare the work schedule could be. You don’t get weekends off when you work retail — if anything, they’re the days you’re least likely to get off because everyone else is out shopping then.

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Doctors, nurses and hospital staff are also working today in case some nitwit cuts off their finger with a food processor or the fire department is on duty in case some guy sets a garage on fire while trying to deep fry a turkey.
Thank you for showing up for work.

I’ve worked retail before and it’s ridiculous that they are open on Thanksgiving. Retail is a non essential service unlike gas stations, hospitals, firemen, police…..etc and companies need to give them a break to spend time with their families since retail chains are open for 362 days of the year . Retail workers don’t care about working time & half on holidays because the majority are going to get massive overtime anyway throughout the whole holiday season all the way up to New Years Day

Doctors, nurses and hospital staff are also working today in case some nitwit cuts off their finger with a food processor or the fire department is on duty in case some guy sets a garage on fire while trying to deep fry a turkey.
Thank you for showing up for work.

Shopping for non essentials on thanksgiving is disgusting, but I think that suggesting people stay home won’t work. The same crazed women who love to shop Black Friday will be there at the stores on Thanksgiving. I don’t understand such behavior. These women actually enjoy it. I think it’s totally bonkers.

I worked many Thanksgivings and Christmases back when I worked at an aquarium. Animals as well as people have to be cared for 365/year, so I didn’t mind. I would mind having to work Thanksgiving just so some mentally ill women can get off on one more day to shop for what’s mostly a bunch of useless crap.

It is ridiculous. I open tomorrow at a retailer here in the Midwest (still looking for that law job…*sigh*), but I have today off, and we only open a half hour earlier than usual tomorrow, so all-in-all it isn’t bad. I just will have to pop pain pills for my poor feet. I will be going home immediately after my shift ends, and refuse to do any shopping today or tomorrow.

You know what’s worse than Leftists moralizing on made up issues, telling people what to do with their lives? Rightists doing the same.

I was a retail manager right after I graduated. I worked thanksgiving. Yes, it kinda sucked, but I knew that was a possibility in retail. Just like all the groaning from teachers about “low” pay (note the quotation marks), if you know it going in, don’t kvetch when the reality hits.

How many exemptions do we already accept? Gas stations, restaurants, Grocery stores, military, police, fire, hospitals. Four could actually be considered essential, while four are for profit.

If people want to go shopping on Thanksgiving, so be it. Why should I demand that retailers forgo an attempt to extend their most profitable day of the year? Why should I demand people who want to go shopping on Thanksgiving be prevented?

I stay home and cook for my children and enjoy the time we share together. Upon occasion I forget something important like Sage, or Vanilla extract and have to make an emergency trip to the grocery store. That’s what I do, but it doesn’t give me the right to impose my traditions on others.

The schedule might be unfriendly and the money is no treat, but retail jobs are among the few that a reasonably bright human can do without a lot of training and without much drama. I say let’s just be grateful there are such jobs still.

Funny how no one talks about boycotting NFL games? What about the employees that have to work those games? No different than wal mart or target.
Not everyone celebrates Thanksgiving, so shopping on this day is no biggie for me. People get much needed income. Why do people have a problem with that?

Non-issue. Retail jobs have terrible hours — it shouldn’t surprise anyone who chooses that path. And, even so, it’s not likely one’s shift is so long that it prevents the whole family from enjoying a wonderful meal at noon or in the evening. Now, if Christmas sales start taking place on Halloween weekend, I’ll start getting grumpy.

In defense of the stores that do open. (1) Not everyone has a family and Thanksgiving for them is depressing, many workers welcome the opportunity to work, not only to keep their minds occupied but also to make the extra time and a half pay that most open retailers pay. (2) Many companies ask for volunteers to work holidays and get plenty of offers.

I was a retail manager right after I graduated. I worked thanksgiving. Yes, it kinda sucked, but I knew that was a possibility in retail. Just like all the groaning from teachers about “low” pay (note the quotation marks), if you know it going in, don’t kvetch when the reality hits.

mankai on November 28, 2013 at 12:34 PM

Once again Retail is a non essential service. I’m not one to tell someone what they shouldn’t be doing on a holiday but the emphasis is on the CEO’s of these large retails that can’t wait a few extra hours to make their money and simply not give their workers a break, who are going to be running around dealing with some of the meanest, cruelest shoppers on the face the earth including having to deal with the thieves that come out in droves. Look, most stores are happy to open early (at the break of dawn) Black Friday morning to accommodate the start of the official Christmas shopping season. The question is: why can’t they wait some hours later? Sheesh!!!!

Some do, some don’t. That’s freedom, try not to let it irritate you too much that some people do things you don’t agree with. Have a HAPPY Thanksgiving instead.

rhombus on November 28, 2013 at 1:03 PM

Freedom: the ability to refuse to honor a nationally-recognized tradition and holiday where one day is taken to spend time with friends and family to be thankful for what one has (a time devoted to reflection and contemplation) and to instead continue to partake in the rank consumerism of every day life.

I envy you Williamsburg. I was just there for the first time at the end of October, and I loved it. Would go back in a heartbeat, especially during the Christmas season.

My thought on stores being open on Thanksgiving? It kind of bothers me, from the “is nothing sacred any more?” standpoint. However, it’s interesting to me in that it offers a conflicting commentary on our economy: the stores are open, and employees are willing to work, and shoppers are desperate to buy bargains, because the economy stinks. However–the shoppers are willing to go out on a holiday and spend money in a lousy economy, so some people still must have money, so how bad is the economy?? It’s sorta confusing in a way.

In defense of the stores that do open. (1) Not everyone has a family and Thanksgiving for them is depressing, many workers welcome the opportunity to work, not only to keep their minds occupied but also to make the extra time and a half pay that most open retailers pay. (2) Many companies ask for volunteers to work holidays and get plenty of offers.

Dollayo on November 28, 2013 at 12:56 PM

Most Retail workers already get overtime throughout the entire holiday season (Black Friday to News Years Day). One day of time and half is meaningless in the whole scheme of things even if someone doesn’t have a family. Other jobs and careers maybe makes sense but in retail, workers make most of the good money during that period regardless of working on a holiday

This is ridiculous. What is this need to control people?
If you don’t want to work on holidays, ask about the policy before you take the job. If you aren’t in a position to avoid such a job, you better work on holidays until your situation improves.
If stores don’t make money being open on Thanksgiving, they will stop doing it, the market will help them decide.

Meremortal on November 28, 2013 at 1:42 PM

What? Most retails policies did and do say that they are close on holidays – mainly Thanksgiving and Christmas. The companies suddenly change the rules last year and this year especially

Yes, please don’t spend money on useless trinkets! Stay at home where you can throw dinner parties and drink expensive wine that shows how much you read that wine tasting book by that guy that drinks wine!

It’s not like people work Black Friday to earn money they may need to pay their bills or rent or insurance premiums or anything! Don’t they have trust funds and over-priced salaries for vacuous navel-gazing articles on chic web sites?

I’m not going to throw stones because I ended up forgetting a necessary ingredient to something for dinner. Dumbazz. That said, my son works at a pharmacy and he says the customers always come in and say what a crime it is that they have to work Thanksgiving and/or Christmas. I’d like to say that cracks him up but it doesn’t. Usually he gets off and 6 p.m. and we eat around 7, this year……10 p.m..

To me, the businesses opening on Thanksgiving are exhibiting Scrooge-like behavior. I’m not in favor of forcing businesses to close for the day due to law, but there are three days a year when unessential businesses should remain closed: Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day.

Black Friday is another monster. For one, I wish they’d get away from the ridiculously early hours and just have their sales at the start of normal business hours, but at least it isn’t on a holiday.

Lord willing, this is the last Black Friday I’ll have to work in retail.